Tom Ford womenswear is go… almost

The right financial backing is all that's stopping him from launching a women's collection, confirms Tom Ford.

Great news: Tom Ford has finally gone on record to confirm that he is seeking funding to launch a womenswear line. The bad news? While he's keen to start "very soon", the money is an issue.

The former Gucci supremo launched his own-name menswear collection after departing parent company PPR with business partner Domenico de Sole in 2004. He has insisted that an oft-called-for womenswear range has always been in the pipeline, although its launch remains dependent on certain practicalities. Last month, private equity website pehub.com reported that his company was seeking a £30m-plus investment to get it off the ground.

"Financing is extremely expensive right now, so if we find financing in the right situation we'll be able to start soon. If we don't, we may have to wait a while," Ford explains. "You know it will take me 18 months when I start, because I have to hire the team, find the factories, put everything together and then get the stores ready so there's a place for these clothes."

There'll certainly be a place for them in the luxury market, if the success of his men's line is anything to go by.

"Our clothes are expensive but they're as beautifully made as clothes can be made in today's world, and so I think people perceive that value. They don't just feel disposable; they don't feel like an empty trend," he tells today's WWD. "Our customer has been a little bit insulated, meaning of course they've lost money like everyone else, but they're still in a much better position than other people. They may not be buying a new apartment or a new painting, but they're still buying clothes."

With Ford's film A Single Man - which marks his directional debut - on the international premiere circuit at the moment, we're keeping our fingers crossed that the right support is forthcoming and he can get his teeth into his next big challenge sooner rather than later.

Picture: Tom Ford at the BFI London Film Festival earlier this month.

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